Fiction Evaluation Form

(Picture Books, Folklore, Modern Fantasy, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Multicultural Books)

Your Name: Alma Gutierrez Perez Book Title: Rumpelstiltskin

Author: Paul Galdone Illustrator: Paul Galdone

Genre: Folklore Publisher/Year: 1985

EVALUATE THE BOOK USING THE FOLLOWING ELEMENTS

STYLE and Language​​: Using examples from the book, e​​xplain the following: word choices, dialogue,
rhythm, rhyme and sentence length. Also, explain unexpected insights or interesting information the reader
learns from the story. Give examples.

This traditional folk story is very easy to follow. The dialogue between is Rumpelstiltskin and the
Miller’s daughter, goes as follows “I have to spin straw into gold, and I don’t know how to do it.
What will you give me, said the little man, ir I do it for you?” This is repeated three times in the
telling of the story.
A miller’s daughter must turn straw into gold because her father tells a king, she is capable of such a
thing. She cries as she does not know how she will be able to accomplish this. A little man appears
and turns the straw into gold three separate times. First she gives him her necklace, second time
she gives him a ring, the final time this little man helps her turn straw into gold she must promise to
give him her first born child if she becomes Queen.
“I have nothing left of value left, said the girl. Then promise me, if you should become Queen, to
give me your first child. Who knows whether that will ever happen? thought the miller’s daughter.
So not knowing how else to help herself, she promised to give the little man what he wanted.”
CHARACTER – With examples from the book give the following: ​Who is the main character? Explain the
character’s personality traits.
How can the reader relate to the character, become involved in the story?
Who are the supporting characters?
The main character is the Miller’s daughter. She is a simple girl who is in trouble because her father
lies about her having the ability to turn straw into gold. Not much is learned about her, but she
agrees to give up her first born child in order to save her life.
The reader is able to understand why the Miller’s daughter accepts Rumpelstiltskin’s help and
agrees to give up her first born child, because this is the only way she will survive.
The supporting characters are Rumpelstiltskin, the King and the Miller.

1. PLOT: ​summarize the major events in the story-

Miller tells the King his daughter can turn straw into gold.
Miller’s daughter arrives at the palace and is taken to a room full of straw that must be turned to
gold, or she will die.
A little man appears in the room and helps the Miller’s daughter for a price three different times.
The Miller’s daughter paid him with a necklace, then a ring and lastly she promises to give the little
man her first born child as payment if she becomes Queen.
Miller’s daughter becomes Queen and then pregnant so the little man arrives for his payment.
The Queen pleas and the little man takes pity on her. She must figure out his name in three days.
A messenger to the queen gives her a name he heard in the forest by a little man dancing in the fire,
the name Rumpelstiltskin.
The Queen says his name three times and gets to keep her little girl.

2. SETTING –​ Explain the place and time of the book.

THEME- ​What is the story’s theme/message?

Setting:​​This story takes place in a time where kings ruled the land. Inside the King’s castle the story begins
with a Miller that wants to sound important by claiming his daughter can turn hay into gold.
Theme:​​This lie puts his daughters life in danger. Instead of rectifying this and telling the truth the Miller
hands his daughter over to the king. Once message is that people we love may sometimes put their
ego before our safety.It may not be done with malice but in this case the Miller put his daughter in
danger. The Miller’s daughter is left to resolve this on her own. A little magical man appears and
resolves all her worries by turning hay into gold for her. She survives and now owes a debt of giving
up her first born to the little man. The message here is that we must be well informed of the debts
we will be required to pay back. Sometimes it’s not worth it. But then again if you are as clever and
resourceful as the Queen you will be okay.

ILLUSTRATION –​​Analyze the illustrations for the book you selected (see Chapter 4) with the categories
below:
Choose a 2-page spread in the book to answer the following:
What Style​​ ​(realism, surrealism, expressionism, impressionism, naïve, cartoon art)?
Surrealism is found in the telling of this story. I can imagine a little man appearing and spinning the
straw into gold. In a time of need we can all imagine and hope for someone or something to come
along and help us by magically fixing our troubles.
I also found expressionism in the colorful illustrations in this book. Both pages are filled with bright
colors and oversized pictures whose focal point is the expression on the faces that helps us
understand the intentions and emotions of the characters.
Media choices (​ paints, oils watercolors, pencil, pen, charcoal, crayons, acrylic, chalk​​) :
I can see the use of watercolors and pen outlining the illustrations.
Give examples and describe how the following visual elements are used in the illustrations​​:
Line: Diagonal lines show us the movement and dream like feel. The lines are thin and broken.
Shapes: The pages in which nature is displayed you can see curved shapes in the straw. Angular shapes are found in the
brick wall behind the Miller’s daughter.
Color: Despite the fact that the story is not a very happy one. The colors used in the illustrations are bright and happy
allot of yellow is obviously used because of the straw on one page, the other page is also very yellow because of the spun
gold.
Texture: Straw has a pointed ridged texture that is found in most of the illustrations, once it is spun into gold the texture
is soft and shiny.
Explain how​​ ​illustration​​ and ​text​​ ​are combined to tell the story. What do illustrations show that text does not
explain?
The text is followed by a colorful illustration that shows what was described by the text.
In the first page Rumpelstiltskin has a smirk on his face as he spins the wheel and whirr, whirr,
whirr three times all the straw is spun into gold for the first bobbin, and this continues until all the
straw is spun and transformed into gold. The main focus of the right page is the Miller’s daughter
watching as the little man works on the hay. She looks sad and thoughtful probably relieved
because he life is no longer in danger.

Page design: ​Summarize the following​:​ p​ lacement of illustrations and text; the use of borders and white/dark space; are both
pages designed the same or differently?
The space surrounding the text is always white. While the illustration is decorated by color. Both
pages are a little different in this way. The page in the right has no text the Miller’s daughter is
slightly big and takes up half of the page. Surrounding her is all the straw she must turn into gold.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES​​ – ​CHOOSE​​ 2 ​of​​ ​theories below and evaluate the book according to the
developmental theories. (How the book fits the developmental stage and age?)

PIAGET-COGNITIVE-INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Name the stage Preoperational and the age 2-7 years
Explain the cognitive development from the stage:
​Thought limited to one way of thinking. Egocentric thinking.

Give examples from the book show how the book fits the cognitive stage:
Rumpelstiltskin takes advantage of a young girl in need of saving. He takes heronly possetions and
then makes her agree to give up her first born child.
Rumpelstiltskin is not the only selfish character in this story. The king only cares about riches and is
willing to take a young girls life if she dosent give him all the gold he demands.
The miller is also a very selfish man that ends up selling out his daughter to the king just so he can
look important.

ERIKSON – PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Name the stage __________________________________ and the age_____________________

Give examples from the book that support the social development of this stage:

Explain the social development for this stage:

Emotional DEVELOPMENT
Identify the Age: 1-2 years
Explain the emotional development for the age​​:​ ​Self-conscious emotions
appear and depend on the presence of others.

Using examples from the book, explain how the book fits the emotional development of the age:
The miller is self-conscious around the King and he finds himseld lying to impress him.
2. Overall Rating of the book (3 highest - 1 lowest) 3

Comments: (Support your overall rating)

Rumpelstiltskin is a great because it teaches children that everyone even the ones that love you the
most might hurt us unintentionally. The Queen did this and rectified herself by finding a way to
keep her child. Then you have the Miller whom had a chance to rectify his behaviour and be brave
for his daughter (his only treasure) but chooses not to. I hope most children have a Queen kind of
parent in their lives, so the future can be even better than today.
Short Form ​(All Genres)
Your Name: Alma Gutierrez Perez
Title: Arrow of the Sun Author: Gerald McDermott
Illustrator: Gerald McDermott Publisher/Year: 1974
Genre: Folklore

Summarize the content of the book –

For Fiction Form Genres—Explain the characters, the setting, theme and plot of the
book.
Lord of the sun - Boy’s father
Young maiden - Boy’s mother
Main character is the Boy - Looking for his father.
Corn planter - Boy meets while looking for his father. Pay’s the Boy no attention.
Pot maker - Boy meets while looking for his father. Pay’s the Boy no attention.
Arrow maker - Does not speak to the Boy. But he is a vise man so he helps the boy by
turning him into an arrow and shoots up into the sun.
Setting: This story take place in the world of men. But it makes its way into the sun.
Theme: The spark of life comes into the world of man, as a Boy born to a young maiden.
The boy and mother are not happy because the people in the Pueblo do not accept the boy
because he has no Father. Boy grows up and decided to look for his Father.
Plot: The Boy meets a Corn Planter first and is ignored. Then he meets a Pot Maker and the
same thing happens; the pot maker contunues to make pots and ignores the boy. Then in
his travels he comes across Arrow Maker. Arrow Maker is a wise man although he does not
speak to the Boy. He can sense that the Boy came from the sun So Arrow Maker shapes the
Boy like an arrow and shoots him into the sun. The boy meets his father Lord of the Sun.
The Boyy must pass through four chambers in order to prove he is the Lords son. When he
got through the last chamber he was transformed and filled with the power of the Sun.
Father and Son rejoyced and then the Lord of the Sun told the Boy he should take back the
spirit to the world of men. The Boy became an arrow one more time so he could go back to
the land of men, back to the Pueblo. And so the people celebrated in the Dance of Life once
again.
Explain how the book appeals to children, their interests, developmental levels, fun
illustrations etc. Give specific examples from the book:
The illustrations are appealing to choildren because the men are drawn in square shapes.
Women are in circular shapes. The colors used are mostly black , yellow and orange. The
people are decorated with lines and shapes like a mandala. Children will also enjoy this
story because the Boy is insearch of his father. “Can you lead me to my father?” is a
question asked throughout his journey. The Boy turns into an arrow and is shot into the
Sun. A great thing to imagine.

Rate the book 3

Explain your rating.

This book was unike, even though the color scheme is a bit dark, the illustrations and text
complement each other. I love that the colors are bright and beautiful in the scene when
they rejoice in finding each other. The color choices show the happiness they are feeling. I
also enjoyed the illustrations because I have never come accross this type of drawings.
 BOOK EXTENSION ACTIVITY - LESSON PLAN

Your Name: Alma Gutierrez Perez Genre of the Book: Folklore

Book Title: Author: Paul Galdone

Rumpelstiltskin

Publisher: Clarion Books Date: 1985

nd​​
1. Pre-K/ CCSD K-2​​ Grade Core Standards:
(K)3.1 retell beginning, middle, and end of familiar stories [NS/PS 3.K.A1]

2. Objectives:
Children will be able to retell the story in order of beginning, middle, and end, with figures
of the characters that will be glued to a popsicke stick. The children will be assigned a
character and work in groups to present the story to the classroom.

3. Materials/Equipment:
● 8 pieces of paper with the characters from the story Rumpelstiltskin, the
king, miller’s daughter, the miller, the baby, the messenger, the queen
and a piece of paper with the name Rumpelstiltskin.
● Markers to color the characters.
● scisors
● glue
● glue stick

4. Teaching​​:
A. Reading the book:
Show the children the book cover. Talk about the title and what they think it means. Listen
to their theories. Ask questions regarding what they see and think of the pictures.
B. Extension activity: Every week since the beginning of school the teacher has read a
book for the classroom. After the book is read they answer questions about the story and
practice retelling their favorite parts in the order the story took place.

5. Closure: ​The next step is to have them act out the story in three groups of eight to the
classroom and have fun. This will help them work together in retelling the story.